Although India is the largest producer, the produced amount is not enough to cover local consumption. It is mainly cultivated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and North East India regions. According to the Office of Export Controls (OEC), India is considered to be the leading exporter of nutmeg worldwide where the market has reached $107 million in 2016. Nutmeg is listed among the most traded commodities in the world according to the Product Complexity Index (PCI) 81.7% of the nutmeg export market worldwide is mainly coming from 5 countries India, Indonesia, Netherlands, The United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Sri Lanka, while the rest is coming from other countries. Nutmeg oil production is about 500вЂ“1200 kg per hectare and the oil is characterized by its unique pungent fragrance and warm taste.

The mace oil is also produced from the bark, leaf, and flower. The nutmeg is the main source for two distinct spices, nutmeg and mace, where the seed kernel inside the fruits is the source of the spice named вЂњnutmegвЂќ, while the dried flesh around the seed is the source of the spice named вЂњmaceвЂќ. The fruit, similar in shape to the apricot, is eaten locally and once mature splits into two parts, exposing a crimson-colored aril, the mace, which is surrounding the brown seed nutmeg. In the 1600s nutmeg became a pricy commercial spice in the Western world. Historically, nutmeg was believed to be imported to Europe by Arab traders during the 12th century, where grated nutmeg was used as a sachet, and the Romans used it as incense. Myristica fragrans Houtt., (Myristicaceae), a plant species indigenous to Indonesia, is widely distributed in the humid tropical and coastal regions, and is known as вЂњnutmegвЂќ, for being used in the production of the spices nutmeg and mace. These results may be utilized by industries using nutmeg EO.

In general, nutmeg seed oil yields increased with an increase of DT. Nutmeg EO showed some antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum D6, but did not exhibit significant antifungal activity. The concentrations (%) of О±-phellandrene, 3-carene, p-cymene, limonene, О±-thujene, О±-pinene, camphene, sabinene, ОІ-pinene, and myrcene decreased, while the concentrations (%) of О±-terpinene, Оі-terpinene, terpinolene, and myristicin increased in later DT fractions. ANOVA and advanced regression modeling revealed that the produced EO fractions possess substantial variation in the concentration of potentially desired compounds. In addition, a control EO was collected from a straight 0вЂ“240 min non-stop distillation. The intent of this study was to utilize distillation timeframes (DT) of nutmeg ( Myristica fragrans) essential oil (EO) to generate fractions with differential chemical compositions and bioactivity.

Largest exporter of nutmeg